Yarn-supplying device for knitting-machines.



H. SWINGLEHURST. YARN SUPPLYING'DEVIGE FOB KNITTING'MAGHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED D1108, 1909.

. Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

5 $HEETf5-SHEET 1.

A l M W H. SWINGLEHURST.

YARN SUPPLYING DEVICE-FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 1909.

1,035,657, Patented Aug. 13,1912.

5 SHEETS$HEBT 2.

\ I J l I I l l I I x I i l l I I l I l I l I 1 I I I l I. x x l H. SWINGLBHURST. YARN SUPPLYING- DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED D1108, 19 09.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

H. SWINGLEHURST.

YARN SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR KNITTING'MAGHINES.

APPLICATION EILED DEGHB, 1909. v Lflgfififii Patented'Aug. 13,1912.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

41W M OGAQMM H. SWINGLEHURST. YARN SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

I APPLIGAIION FILED DEG.8,1909. 1,@$5,65"?Q I Patented Au 13,1912. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

esaw OF C S'WINGLEI-IURST, O1 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSI GNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNifi-IENTS, T SCOTT & WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY,

A. GQBIPQRAETION 0F NEW J ERSEYQ YABN-SUPELYING DEVICE FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

ost-l ner.

Specification of Letters lfatent. Patented Aug,- 13,-1 912.

Application filed December 8, 1909.' Serial No. 532,117. r

T 0 aZZ/wiiom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, HARRY SwmoLnHUns'r,

a citizen of the United States, residing .in

' knitting machine, the devices,- While applicable to lmitting machines generally, havbe'en devised with special reference for :use in connection with machines of that type which are adapted for the production of either ribbed or plain Web and for changing from the production of one character of "web to the other, an instance of such nan, chine being found in the patent of it. lVf

-Scott, No. 834,763, dated October 30, 1906.

' In the accompanying drawings-Figare 1. is a view, partly in side elevation-and partly in transverse vertical section, of sutiicient of the knitting inachineto illustrate the application thereto of a yarn reinforcing device constructed in accordance with my in ventioin'the parts being shown in the posi-.

tions which they occi'ipy when the reinforcing yarn controlled thereby is first. brought into of the needles; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts of the device in the positions assumed by them when the reinforcing yarn controlled thereby has been Withdrawn from range of the needles; Fig. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section and illustrating certain element-s of the mechanism whereby the yarn reinforcing devices are operated, part of the knitting machine being shown by dotted lines; Fig. i is an end view illustrating certain of said operating devices; Fig. 5 is a side view illustrating part of the pattern drum and certain of the devices acted upontherbbjf; Figs. (3, I

7 and. 8 are top or plan views illustrating, in different positions, the members of the reiu -rcing yarn controlling device: Fig. 9 is a rent view at too maiiryarn guidc'aiid ot the 'rinforcing yarn controlling device opin conjunction therewith; Figs. 10, ll, 12 and 13 are side views of the reinforcing yarn controlling device illustrating the parts of the same in different positions; Fig. 1-iis a top or plan view illustrating the application of my invention to ayarn changing device, and Fig. 15 isan end view of the same, partly insection.

In the drawings, 1 represents .the needle cylinder of the machine,w the needles carried thereby, 2 the needle dialand 3 the needles operating in conjunction therewith, these needles having bent shanks which are pivotally mounted in a ringB above the dial and'are operated, both for knit-ting and for transferring their stitches xto thewcylindcr needles, by cams in an upper ring which may be similar tothose of the patent before; referred to and which Ihave not, therefore, considered it necessary to" illustrate .or describe. Neither have [shown nor described the cams for actuating the cylinder needles a: as these may also be similar to those ot-thc patented machine. i it A I Web holders 4 operate in conjunctionwith the cylinder needles and the knitted web is acted upon by take-up hooks 5 which are pivotally mounted in any suitable manner upon a tubular stem 0 depending from the needle dial and are acted upon by a ring 7 vertically movable upon said stem'so that,-

by reason of such movement. the hooks may be thrown into and out of operative position, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of'thc drawings.

The needle dial 2 and the dial. noodles 9 are vertically movable, in respect to the needle cylinder and its needles, such move- Above the cylinder is the. yarn guiding ring 9 which, in the present instance is fixedly mounted on the frame of the machine, the cylinder and dial with their needles, being the rotating clcn'ients. 'My

invention is, however, equally applicable to :1 machine in which the cylinder and dial, with their needles, are non-rotating and the cam-carrying devices rotate, in whicln case the yarn guiding ring will be mounted upon a rotating member of the machine.

60 the yarn delivery eye 10 of the disk to The main knitting yarn is fed to the needles through an eye c in the guide ring, as shown in Fig.' 9 and the supplementary orreinforcing yarn '20 is, in the present instance, under control .of adisk 10' to which a rockingmotion is imparted so as to carry said reinforcing yarn into or out of. range of the cylinder needles of the machine, although any desired substituted-"or this disk 1 may be employedfso long as it has the necessary movementimparted to it to carry thel-thread into orout of range of the needles. The disk 10 is mounted upon a shaft 1 1 whichpasses through a tubular shaft IQmounted in aliearing 13 on the avingfsecnred to, it u-pinion H which -meshes -w1th1 a irack' 15 upon a Ml'lltflll) guided shde, 16, the lower end of the latter ide.ring, the outer end otsaid shaft 11.

being connected by a rod 17 to one arm ot" -a=lever 1Q hung upon the fixed frame of the machi'ne,' the otherarin of. said lever carry ng an ant -friction roller 20 \Vllltl] engages a cam 21 on the main driving shatt.

22 of themachine, asshown in Fig. 3, the

anti-friction roller f'being held in contact with the cam either by the weight of the parts connectedto the lever 19 or by a suitable spring acting thereupon, as shown.

for instance at lQ in Fig. 5, or both. ()n

eachrotation of theshaft 22, therefore. the

disklO will be caused to rock so as to carry 1ts yarn "delivcringeye w into feeding position, as shown in F g. 1, or out of feeding position as shown in Fig. 2, the time durin which the yarn feeding eye remains in cit cfof thesepositions being dependent upon the conformation of the cam 21 which, inthe present case, is designed to permit the yarn guiding eye 10 to remain in feeding position for one-half of a revolution of the machine and out of feeding position for the other half of the revolution, so that it will feed the yarn to the needles around one-half of the cylinder and will then withdraw the yarn from knitting en a-g einent with the needles and permit'it to I oat behindthe latter during the alternate half rotation, lthiisreinforcing the knitted 5o tube throughout one-half it's extent, as for instance in the production of the web ini mediatel-y above the heel. so as to"producc' what is termed a higlrspliced heel.

Whenit is desired to stop the feeding of the reinforcing yarn to the needles, the lever the inoperative-position shown in 1 1 a. movement-of the leverlQ is efie'cttd V by means-of another lever 23 hung to a on the fixed frame of the machine and 65 acted upon by one or more cams2et on the by the cam 21'.

BEST AVAILABLE COPY pattern drum 25, with which the machine. is provided, a portion of said pattern drum being illustrated in Fig. The'lever 23 carries an adjustable contact screw 26 which, when said lever 23 is lifted by one of the cams 24, will raise the lever 19 and prevent any further operation of the same I In connection with the device for feeding the reinforcing yarn, to the needles I employ a device for nipping and holdin the end of the yarn when the reinfm'c'ingyarn guide is out; of action during the formation, of a non-reinforced .portion of the knitted web; This device consistsotiai pair of nipping jaws 30 and 31, the jaw 30 beingpivotally mounted upon the upper end of n arm carried by the inner end of the ubular. shaft 12 and being normally supported upon a plate on the yarn-guiding ring 9, asshown by dotted lines in Fig. 10. The nip' ping jaw 31 is pivotally mounted at 34 on the jaw 30 so as to be free to swing from and toward the same, and said jaw 31 has a projecting beveled lug 35 which, by contact with an arm 36 on the yarn-guiding ring, causes the jaw 31. to open or move away from the jaw 30, when the latter is retract-ed or drawn back toward the yarn feeding disk It), the j'aw 3l being normally heldclosed against the jaw 30 by means of a springj37 acting upon an arm 39 on said jaw 31. l hcarm 36 is acted upon by a spring 40 wl/nrh" permits it to yield when it contacts witl the lug 35 on the forward movement of the nipping jaws, the contact of said ar 36 with a pin 41, or other suitable stop, iolding it rigid when the .lug 35 contacts with it on the backward movement of the nipping jaws. When the jaws are moved bacltward, therefore, as shown in Fig. 13, they will first be opened by contact of the lug 35 wtiththe arm 36, so as to permit the reinforci hg yarn to pass between them and will then he closed so as to nip and hold said yarn, wh ch is thcnetore broken at a-point between the nipping jaws and the needles, by reason of the st nn upon it. When it IS desired toaganit reintroduce the reinforcing yarn, the nip--- ping jaws are moved forward to Lion shown in Fig. 10, and the i yarn guide is then operated so r guide eye it) into feeding p shown in Fig. 11, the reinforcing y; 'n being thereby thrown into position to be engaged by the cylinder needles w, and being with drawn from between the nipping jaws by reason of the pull of the needles upon it, \Vhen .the time arrives to stop the further teed of the reinforcing yarn, the disk 10 as first moved so as to carry the guide eye 12. to inoperative position, as shown in Fig. and the nipping aws are then retractod so as to engage the reinforcing yarn, as

shown in Fig. 13.

acting upon a lever d3 which is connected by a rod M to an arm 45 on the outer end of the tubular shaft 12, as shown in Fig. 3, the lever 42 being held in engagement with the pattern drum either by means of its own weight and that of its connected parts or by means of a spring 4-3, as shown in Fig. 5, or both.

\V hen the machine is producing ribbed web, the dial and its needles are lowered, as

shown in Fig. 2, so as to occupy the proper relation to the cylinder and its needles for the prediction of such ribbed web, the supplementary yarn feeding devices being then in the inoperative or retracted position shown in Fig. 2, and the take-up hooks 5 being expanded so as toengage with the ribbed web. Before introducing the reinforcing yarn, however, the dial and its now retracted needles are elevated, as shownin Fig. 1, so that said dial needles will not 1ntcrfere with the projection of the nipping jaws 30 and 31 into operative relation. with the cylinder needles, as shownin Fig. l. and at the same time the take-up hooks are retracted by the action of the ring 7 so that they will not interfere with the proper tloat ing ofthe reinforcing yarn from the point where tinned to the point where said feed is again resumed.

My invention is not limited to means for eti'ecting application of a reinforcing thread to a portion of the knitted tube but is also available for use in connection with means for feeding yarn of one color or character to the needles of the machine during part of a rotation and for feeding yarn of another color or character to said needles during another part ot' the rotation, as, for instance, in producing a stocking having a foot with yarn of one color in the instep portion and yarn of another color in the sole portion. Mechanism in accordance with my invention for making such change in the yarns is shown in Figs. lt and 15, and involves a duplication of the devices before described, one set of: devices being numbered correspondingly with those shown in the other tigures of the drawing and the other set being distinguished from the first by the addition of the letter cito the reference numerals. 'lhc yarn feeding disks 10 and 18 are, in this case, set face to face, as shown in Fig. 14:, and the feeder 10 .is provided with a its feed to the needles was disconi segmental rack 50 which meshes with a spur pinion 51 on a tubular shaft 32 adapted to a bearing 13" alongside-of the bearing 13, this tubular shaft having within it ashaft 53 which carries a spur wheel 54L mesl'iing with a segmental rack on the hub of'the nipper-carrying arm 32. The tubular shaft is operated by mechanism similar to. that employed for operating the shaft 11 but-sd timed that the yarn guide 10 will be me V7 to operative position at the same time thi, the yarn guide 10 is moved to inoperafiie position and-vice-versa,- the shaftcombined with mechanism similar to, employed for operating the shaft 12 bu timed as to cause movements of the nipping jaws 30 and 51 in respeet to the movements of the yarn guide 10 in the same manner as the movements of the nipping jaws- 30 and 81 are timed in respect to the movcmentsrof, the yarn guide 10. The shaft 11 which carries the disk 10 is tubular in order topcrmit of the passage through said shaftof the yarn which is controlled by said disk 10". Although I have shown my invention as, applied. to a machine in which are'employed laterally swin 'in ribbin needles cooaeratr i D D ing with a dial, it can be used in COH'HGCt'lOD With any form of knitting machine intended for the production of plain and ribbeddveb alternately, and in which'the ribbing needles, When'in position to cotipcrate with the plain web needles would interfere with the proper use of the yarn reinforcing or .yarn changing devices. The invention can also be ap I plied to a machine for producing a knitted hem or welt upon a knitted web, sucha's that described in the Letters Patent of'ltobcrt'l' s Scott, No. 864,433, dated August 27-, I997, in which machine the needles correspohding: to the ribbing needles only receive 'and tem- 'porarily retain certain of. the loops ofwthe primary or setting-up course of the welt and it will be evident that in a machine of this type simple loop-receiving points or hooks would be the equivalent of the ribbing needles o'f a rib knitting machine.

In the broad embodiment of my invention a construction in which the vertical move ment was imparted to the cylinderneedles; the yarn feeding devices and theimppui-te nances, would be the equivalent ofthe re verse constr iction which 1 havesho'wir and described.

I claim: v I

1. The combination, in a knitting" machine, of two sets of needles, those 'ofon e"s e 'l movable both 'longitudinallyl and it im- 'versely of the others so as to occupy either an operative or an inoperative relation thereto. devices for feeding yarfi to on set of needles, and means for moving j vices into operative relation with'its needles when the other set of needl been moved longitudinally out of opera 35 I vice for knitting machines, of a yarn guidneedles has been moved longitudinally into operative relation with said set of needles.-

2. The combination,in a rib knitting machine, of a cylinder and its needles, ribbing needles, a support therefor movable longitudinally in respect to the cylinder to carry the ribbing needles into and out of operative relation with the cylinder needles, a yarn feeding device, and means for moving the same into operative relation with the cylinder needles when the ribbing needles are out of operative relation therewith and out of operation with the cylinder needleswhen the ribbing needles are in operative relation therewith.

. 3. The combination, in a rib knitting machine, of a cylinder and its needles, ribbing needles, a support therefor movable longhtudinally in respect to the cylinder to carry the ribbing needles into and out of operative relation with the cylinder needles, a yarn feeding device, means for moving the same into operative relation with the cylinder .needles .when the ribbing needles are out of operative relation therewith and outer operation with the cylinderneedles when the ribbing needles are in operative relation therewith, and take-up hooks also movable into and out of operative relation with the cylinder needles along with the ribbing needles. I

4; The combination, in'a yarn feeding deing eye, a pair of yarn-nipping aws, means for opening and closing the latter, means for moving the jaws into operative and inoperative position in respect to the needles, means for opposing a light resistance to the opening of the jaws, and means for increasing the pressure upon the jaws when they are closed.

-5. The combination, in a yarn feeding device for knitting machines, of a yarn guiding eye, a pair of yarn-nipping jaws, means for projecting them into Operative relation with the needles, means for first opening and then closing said jaws as they are being retracted to the inoperative position, means for opposing a light resistance to the opening of the jaws, and means for increasing the pressure uponthem when they are closed;

6. The combination, in a yarn feeding device for knitting machines, of a yarn guide,

a pair of yarn-nipping aws, means for moving the same to operative and inoperative position in respect to the-needles, a carrier 813111 1113011 which one of said jaws is pivotally mounted, and means for pivotally mounting the other jaw upon the first so as to permit it to move from and toward the same.-

7. The combination, in a yarn feeding de- BEsTAVAILABLE COPY vice for knitting machines, of a yarn guide, a pair of yarnmppmg aws, means for moving the same to operative and inoperative position in respect to the needles, and a trigger acting to open the jaws as they are retracted.

The combination, in a yarn feeding de vice for knitting machines, of a yarn guide,

a pair of yarn-nipping jaws, means for mov-" ing the same to operative and inoperative position in respect to the needles, and a trigger acting upon the jaws as they are retracted said trigger being free to swing in one direction under control of the spring but being prevented by a rigid stop from swinging in the opposite direction.

9. The combination, in a yarn feeding device-tor knitting machines, of a yarn guide, a pair of yarn-nipping jaws, and means for moving the same to operative and inoperative position in respect to the needles, one of said jaws being mounted so as to swing from and toward the other and being provided with a projecting lug, and a trigger for engaging said lug as the jaws are retracted, thereby effecting the opening movement of the jaws.

10. The combination, in a yarn feeding device for knitting machines, of a yarn guide, a pair of yarn-nipping jaws, and means tor moving the same to operative and inoperative position in respect to the needies, one of said jaws being mounted so as to swing from and toward the other and ping devices, one of said shafts being tubular and the other disposed within it.

12. The combination, in a knitting machine, of a yarn feeding device, a cam carried by the main shart of the machine, means actuated by said cam and serving to adjust said yarn feeding device tooperative position in respect to the needles during a portion of the rotation oi the machine and to inoperative position in respect to said needles during the remainder ofsuch rotation, and pattern-controlled means for moving said operating devices out of the range of the cam.

13.-The combination, in a knitting machine, of a yarn feeding device, a cam on the main shaft of the. machine, means whereby said cam is caused to move said yarn-feed- 21 yarn-nipping device also movable into and 'out'of operative position in respect tothe needles, pattern-controlled means for rendering inoperative the means for actuating.

the yarn feeding device, and pattern-controlled means for moving the yarn nipping device into and out of operative position.

11. The combination, in a knitting machine, of two yarn feeding devices, each movable into operative and inoperative relation to the needles, ieans for actuating the said yarn feeding devices so as to cause theni to feed yarn alternately to the needles, a yarn-nipping device operating in COI1]11I1C tion carrying each of said yarn feeding and yarn-nipping devices, and a counter-shaft and gearing whereby oneyarn-feeding device and one "yarn-nipping device are operated.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, ,HARRY SWINGLEHUBST. I Witnesses: v

A; WALKDEN, HAMILTON D. TURNER.

with each-yarn-feeding-device, shafts I 

